Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 May 1887 — TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE. [ARTICLE]

TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE.

Three Mexican Towns Almoit Obliterated by Earthquakes and Volcanoes. One Hundred and Seventy People Inslantly Killed and a Large dumber Wounded. iGuaymaa ’Mexico) dispatch.) The town of* Bahispe, in the district ‘of Montezuma, in Sonora, was destroyed by the recent earthquake, and 150 lives were lost. Twenty persons were killed at Oputo by the falling of buildings. Many people were injured at Granadas and Gusabar, which towns were almost completely destroyed. 1 Hermosillo (Mexico) dispatch.] The earthquake caused terrible damage in Montezuma. It destroyed several villages, but those in the northeastern part suffered most terribly. Oputo had all its houses destroyed, and nine persons were killed. Bahispe was utterly destroyed, and 150 people were killed. The houses were leveled to the ground. A new volcano appeared, and its eruption destroyed all the timber and pastures of adjoining valleys and mountains. [City of Mexico dispatch.] The Government has just received its first information regarding the disastrous earthquake on the 3d inst. at the town of Bahispe, in the district of Montezuma, Sonora, by which 150 persons lost their lives. The earthquake occurred at 3.30 p. m, At the same time volcanic eruptions began in the neighboring mountains, lighting up the summits for a long distance. The prediction is made here by local scientists that Mexico is about to undergo a general seismic convulsion, and recent records of earthquakes show that there is widespread volcanic activity from one end of Mexico to the other. [Tucson (Arizona) dispatch.] A party has just returned from the Santa Catalina Mountains and report that the canyons are full of water, brought to the surface by the earthquake. This is a great boon foY this region, as there are thousands of acres of good farming land at the base of these mountains which only need water to make them valuable. Another good effect of the earthquake is the opening of two large gold veins which were discovered in the Santa Catalina Mountains at a point where the whole side of a mountain slid down. Several prospecting parties left'to-day to locate claims. From one to two slight shocks of earthquake have been felt here for several days. They are too slight to cause alarm. There is no doubt that nearly every high mountain in Southern Arizona has to a greater or less extent had its topography changed, but so far as can be learned here there is no active volcano among them. (Nogales (Arizona) dispatch.] Later accounts received here tend to show that the report of a volcano having broken out in the Whetstone Mountains is true. Men who arrived from Sonora say that there is strong evidence of a volcanic eruption at a point about forty miles southeast of Magdalena, and it is confidently said that one peak is throwing out large volumes of smoke, accompanied by streams of lava. Smoke and fire can be distinctly seen from several points along the line of the Sonora Bailroad. As far as can be ascertained, the volcano is in the Sierra Azul range. From the appearance of the country and the heavy earthquakes that have occurred it is believed that other volcanoes will break forth in a few days. [Laredo (Texas) dispatch.] Passengers arriving on tfae Monterey tiain report that great fires are raging on the summit of the mountains in many places on both sides of the road. Whether these fires have any connection with’ (he recent earthquake disturbances in Arizona and New Mexico is yet to be determined, as the tops of these mountains are almost inaccessible.